Tag Archives: Arbouretum

Arbouretum, The Gathering (Thrill Jockey)

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Last week’s edition of the LEO Weekly included my review of the new Arbouretum record, The Gathering:

The last time a rock band cited Carl Jung as a primary influence was probably on The Police’s swan song, Synchronicity; but on Arbouretum’s new record, The Gathering, Dave Heumann has found inspiration in the father of analytic psychology’s posthumously published, hallucinatory “The Red Book.” The lyrics are darkly imagistic and dream-like, and perfectly match Arbouretum’s music, a hybrid of the heavy post-hardcore of Lungfish and the delicate melodic sensibility of 1960s-era British folk rock bands like Pentangle. High points include “The White Bird,” which sets the album’s ominous tone; “Highwayman,” a haunting ballad of reincarnation; and “Song of the Nile,” a sprawling 10-minute epic dealing with gnostic mythology. Heavy bands rarely sing lyrical concerns worth further exploration, but in The Gathering, Arbouretum has successfully turned the stuff of dreams into reality.

Buy it from Thrill Jockey here.

ARBOURETUM, SHEDDING, and PONTIAK at SKULL ALLEY, Wednesday, May 19th

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ARBOURETUM (from Baltimore, Maryland; on Thrill Jockey)
SHEDDING (from Louisville, Kentucky)
PONTIAK (from Baltimore, Maryland; on Thrill Jockey)

Wednesday, May 19th
at SKULL ALLEY
1017 E. Broadway
8 PM, $5, ALL AGES!

ARBOURETUM first began in late 2002 as a vehicle for singer/guitarist David Heumann’s songwriting. Since their debut album, Long Live the Well-Doer, there have been several lineup changes that have included musicians such as Ned Oldham (Anomoanon), Walker Teret (Cass McCombs’ band), and Jennifer Hutt, as well as drummers Mitchell Feldstein (Lungfish) and David Bergander (Celebration). The sweeping, atmospheric textures of the first record soon gave way to a more visceral, elemental approach. Amplifiers were turned up, drums were hit harder, and songs crescendoed into spiraling, noise-soaked climaxes on the second full-length, Rites of Uncovering. Released on Thrill Jockey in early 2007, the record garnered much attention and critical acclaim. Recorded at Lord Baltimore Recordings by Rob Girardi over two months in the fall of 2008, [their latest album] Song of the Pearl is ARBOURETUM‘s third full-length and the first to feature the same core band on every song. With Dave Heumann on guitar and vocals, Corey Allender on bass, Daniel Franz (also sometimes seen with Beach House) on drums, and Steve Strohmeier on guitar, Song of the Pearl is more earthy and direct than the band’s previous efforts.

Watch the video for ARBOURETUM‘s “Down By the Fall Line” here: http://www.thrilljockey.com/vault/vimeo/vault_Arbouretum.html.

SHEDDING has been a solo project for Connor Bell since 2001, though in 2009 Tim Furnish (Parlour, Crain, Cerebellum, Papa M, The For Carnation) and Joey Yates (The Loved, Parlour, Sapat) joined as the rhythm section in SHEDDING’s new lineup. Solo, SHEDDING has already released a few albums, and the new band lineup plans to release a 7″ in 2010.

In the era of single song downloads, PONTIAK create records meant to be heard in sequence in its entirety. Van, Lain, and Jennings Carney of PONTIAK share a mom, a dad, and a Virginia farmhouse studio. They record themselves, book themselves, hold complex day jobs, and know their way around a working farm as well as an instrument. They like it loud and they like it dirty. A lifetime of shared experiences certainly informs the three Carney brothers playing as a band. Jennings’ bass or Lain’s drums often finish the thoughts of Van’s guitar. This is a level of musical communication that most bands are only able to achieve after years of touring and recording. It also may account for their staggering productivity.

Read Mat Herron’s interview with PONTIAK in the May 12, 2010 edition of LEO Weekly here: http://leoweekly.com/music/southern-%E2%80%98living%E2%80%99.

Check out the Facebook invite here: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=115177391855939.

For more information, check https://othersideoflife.wordpress.com. To join our email list, send an email to hstencil@gmail.com.